[Lucy's POV: ]
A blue light escaped from the wooden box, and I looked at the floating message window before my eyes.
[You have received: 1500 Oz.]
[You have received: 2 Mana stones.]
[You have received: 30 Skill points.]
Everything was wonderful, but the thing that intrigued me, and the one clinging to me, were the Mana stones.
A Mana stone was something that 'high-level' monsters created inside their bodies randomly.
It was a rare thing, and every stone was valued at at least 300 Oz in the main worldline trade shop. And the price naturally varied according to the Mana purity and its size.
"Wowy~. This is mine, right~?" As always, without even my answer, she took out the two blue round stones from the box and they vanished.
They looked like any normal stones and for now; I had no use for these things.
"What will I get from this deal, my dear sister?" I asked with a warm smile and pushed the blanket away. It was morning and time to rise and shine.
I believed she won't answer me and it would be the same one-sided trade as every time.
But, to my surprise, she actually replied.
"I... you can have a wish." And just after saying that, she hid behind the pillow to hide her red face like some shy little innocent girl.
Her answer was unexpected to me but, I knew what those words meant.
There was this little reward system where we used to reward the other person with a 'wish'.
You can ask 'anything' from the other party and there was no room for a no when one of these wishes is used.
It was unlike her to give such a precious thing for mere Mana stones, so I looked at her with an evil smirk and asked in my childish voice, "Oh my dear lady, how can I ever say no to such a generous offer~?"
Peeking at me from behind the pillow, she saw my little smirk with narrow eyes. She was definitely calling me 'cheeky bastard' in those hidden thoughts right now.
"Yes..."
Shaking her head in embedment, she threw the pillow at me. It was rare and some of the most precious moments to see her rose-red face.
She was someone that rarely lost, and she was also someone who would do anything to reward the other party.
Absolutely. Anything.
Yes, it was a fact that the other party was only me; she was damn cute at those times of embarrassment.
Looking at her bright red eyes and her messy white hair, I smiled warmly at her.
We were still children and there was still no way that we would do anything out of the norm just yet.
There was a long way before us, and we could do most of the things when the academy starts.
There would be many things we had to look after in that place, but whatever that may be... we will be together.
"Ok, my beloved queen, let's clean up. Miss Evaline will be here with food soon."
I was happy, but there was anger in my eyes when I mentioned Eva.
We were pretty rare products because of our looks and mental barrier, so we were receiving special treatment from that piece of shit orphanage owner.
"I won't make it painless, Lucy, don't worry~." She replied cheerfully in her evil tone. And she meant those words. I knew better than any of you.
I had experienced her methods of 'punishments' firsthand, so I knew very well just how 'expert' she was.
It wasn't a matter of just inducing pain when she was actually pissed at someone.
Hell no!
It was something that I feared to even describe in lowly pure words.
Things that seemed simple, but at the same time, the person tightly bound to the table might just want to kill themselves before another thing comes.
It was just ineffably painful.
There was mercy in her previous self but in this world, as we had our special {Zero skills}, even I wouldn't feel much from seeing a scumbag like that fat bastard suffer.
It wasn't my forte to see someone suffer so much.
I believed in a quick, painless death.
That was the last mercy I showed as a human.
But she was just crazy.
It was a habit, and she just took pleasure in seeing those who deserved to suffer bleed bloody tears in utter agony.
Her sadistic side was the very reason I loved her cute side more than anything.
So, looking at my adorable mess another time, I offered her a hand.
"Let's go," I said in a low voice, just enough for it to reach her.
And without a word, she happily accepted it and we climbed down from the bed.
***
[OP: ]
An endless white place, and in the middle of such a place was a dark canvas and a young, beautiful girl by its side.
Sitting before the large backspace on the ground that was filled with weird numbers and geometrical designs, she drew something on the smaller canvas before her.
It was fascinating to see the same kind of designs appear on the ground on the small canvas before her.
But right now, she was hyper-focused on the small lines that seemed like a net before her.
We can see that the net was creating a canopy over the ground, the large circles and small circles visible beneath it.
There were also many triangular shapes of them and then everything was connected with many unique numbers.
Even after looking closely, one couldn't understand this complex structure, but one thing was clear: this whole thing was a piece of art.
It was art that was complicated, something that would need divine eyes to just understand it.
There was almost no way to recreate something like this, not even after you know how to draw it.
There was a blue stone glowing in her other hand, and the blue glow from the stone was fading at a rapid speed.
She was drawing and drawing, lost in a world of her own, one with her will to finish this colossal masterpiece.
After some time passed, the stone in her hand started turning white, and she without losing her focus, clenched her fist and broke the stone.
The stone also just disappeared without any traces after a moment and her drawing hand fastened.
The speed she was drawing every line, every curve, and every perfect shape was unreal.
She was fast and accurate, and her every action sparked something inside the onlookers.
The bright red feather pen was something that complimented her beautiful ash-white hair and shining red eyes in this perfectly white room.
The large net on the black canvas was almost complete, and it seemed the last strokes were the only thing left for her.
She didn't wait for anything and completed those webs with three triangular strokes.
Everything stopped for a moment as soon as she finished, and then, the feather pen fell from her hand.
A bright red light came out of the black-and-white drawing and the canvas started turning blue!
It was turning into a system window and the person that drew this whole thing fell on the ground. Unmoving, as if lifeless.
There were no movements from her, and she was still.
Fortunately, she was still breathing, as her modest chest was slowly going up and down.
"Finally..." she rejoiced under a heavy breath and closed her eyes.
It took her ten months with the help of all those Mana stones and… she was now done.
It was more difficult than any time she drew this thing, but... this was a unique experience.
Drawing the ending parts seemed the most fun to her, and she felt the same hype as in those old days with this.
In her previous world, the state of extreme concentration was called 'Zone' and in this world, it was an official state of the mental body, which was called
One would be in a world of their own when in this state, and it was the same for her this time. Drawing those last lines and shapes was a feeling she felt for the first time too.
And after putting in this much mental effort for the first time, she sure had the right to expect exceptional rewards from the system. So…
[Ding!]
The big drawing vanished in the system window and the long-awaited notification graced her barely open eyes.